Kool-Aid analysis: Visible Spectroscopy and Paper Chromatography

Submitted by Megan Strayer / The Pennsylvania State University on Wed, 06/26/2013 - 13:55
Description

This lab experiment is designed to introduce the electromagnetic spectrum to non-science majors in a food chemistry course by using everyday food (i.e. Kool-Aid packets). Students will use a spectrophotometer to correlate wavelength to color, as well as determine the mass percent of certain colored dyes in a Kool-Aid sample. Paper chromatography is also introduced to determine the number of dyes in a Kool-Aid sample. This lab is adapted from Sigmann, S; Wheeler, D. J. Chem. Ed., 2004, 81, p. 1475.

Databases for Kinetics

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Mon, 06/03/2013 - 15:02
Description

I recently came across some web resources for teaching kinetics. They are searchable compilations of kinetics data, principally gas-phase. Two of the sites include "recommended" data for use in simulations.

I describe the four sites here and the URLs are here and below.

http://jpldataeval.jpl.nasa.gov/
This is a critical tabulation of the latest kinetic and photochemical data for use by modelers in computer simulations of atmospheric chemistry

C(sp3)-F Activation through an Initial C(sp3)-H Activation Mechanism

Submitted by John Lee / University of Tennessee Chattanooga on Wed, 07/18/2012 - 16:35
Description

This paper is from a Science article from Alan Goldman’s group at Rutgers University. It was one of the literature articles that was assigned during the IONiC VIPEr Workshop in July 2012.  In conjunction with reading the article, workshop participants attended a seminar presented by Alan Goldman on this work.

Simple synthesis of MoO2(acac)2 and evaluation of spectra

Submitted by Patricia Stan / Taylor University on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 15:23
Description

A very simple lab synthesis that allows the student to carry out a coordination reaction and then look at the NMR and IR spectra.  I use this as a first lab to introduce them to using the NMR and IR.  If students work through the spectroscopy tutorial they should be able to explain the IR and NMR spectra.

NMR Coin-Flip Game

Submitted by azmanam / Butler University on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 09:19
Description

A simple coin-flipping game to help students understand the origin of spin/spin splitting in 1H NMR.

VIPEr Screencast

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 10:27
Description

This screencast is a brief introduction to some of the features of VIPEr.

Five Slides About Percent Buried Volume (%Vbur)

Submitted by Chip Nataro / Lafayette College on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 09:29
Description

These slides present a walkthough of performing a Percent Buried Volume (%Vbur) calculation. The %Vbur is a measurement of the bulk of a ligand coordinated to a transiton metal. The calculation uses the crystal structure of a compound to determine how much space a ligand occupies. It does this by placing the metal at the center of a sphere and then calculates the volume of that sphere occupied by the ligand. Originally developed for N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands, it has also been applied to mono- and bidentate phosphines.

Teaching Tanabe-Sugano Diagrams

Submitted by Sheila Smith / University of Michigan- Dearborn on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 11:12
Description

For years, I spent 2-3 days a semester working through Tanabe-Sugano diagrams, their development from terms, their evolution from Orgel diagrams, their analysis to give transition energies (the old ruler- trial and error analysis) and nephalauxetic parameters.  Recently, colleagues in VIPEr convinced me that my time in class could be better spent, but I am not willing to completely give up on Tanabe-Sugano.

Spectroscopy Tutorial

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Tue, 03/22/2011 - 23:28
Description

I just found this neat little web-based tutorial at the University of Alberta.  It goes through UV-Vis, IR and NMR.  Its coverage of IR is almost exactly what I expect my students to know.  In typical "stretch and release" fashion, I teach more, but if my students could do the practice problems on the website, I'd be happy.

The site was put together by Greg Nilsson, Enrico Fok, June Ng and Jason Cooke of the Department of Chemistry.

There are also has some great problems for multinuclear NMR.

The site has a tutorial, practice problems, and live feedback.  Way cool!

The Electronic Properties of tris-(2,2'-bipyridine)-ruthenium(II) Lab Experiment(s)

Submitted by Jared Paul / Villanova University on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 19:41
Description

This is a lab experiment designed to cover an array of techniques, including metal complex synthesis, spectroscopy and electrochemistry.  Overall, the goal is to synthesize the metal complex Ru(bpy)32+, exchange the counter ion to demonstrate changes in solubility, absorbance and emission properties (including excited state quenching through energy and electron transfer, and ground state oxidation), as well as cyclic voltammetry of the complex.

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